Gary Johnson is the anti-establishment Republican Presidential candidate. He is committed to cutting spending, balancing the budget, rooting out special interests, and protecting Liberty for all Americans.

It's disappointing, then, that Governor Johnson's established credibility as a presidential candidate has not earned him the opportunity to present his message in the nationally televised debates.

Our campaign has been respectful when questioning the media's decisions to exclude Governor Johnson, but credible observers have speculated that there may in fact be a 'Gary Johnson Rule' to ensure that he doesn't appear on stage. (See here and here.)

While the national media may have devised polling "criteria" to determine who is invited and who is not, those criteria become a lot less objective if the polls they're based on don't include all the candidates.

How can you qualify for the debates when you're not included in the polls?

The irony, of course, is that many of the same media outlets who decide the debate participants are also the same people who devise the national polls. While they may say that their debates are open to anyone, their carefully restricted polls effectively play the role of gatekeeper.

When Governor Johnson was included by CNN in their last nationwide survey, he placed ahead of Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum, and tied with Herman Cain -- all three of whom have been invited to every debate, including tonight's.

But this morning, despite his previous inclusion -- and despite polling ahead or even with three other candidates -- CNN released their latest poll without Governor Johnson as an option.

We find this truly baffling, and have been left scratching our heads. And so we ask, ‘why?’

What is it that CNN is afraid of? Is a candidate with fresh ideas – and a track record as a successful two-term governor – too much for the establishment to deal with?

Or is it that CNN can't understand how Gary Johnson can poll competitively with other candidates who've spent millions -- possibly 10 or 20 times the amount Governor Johnson has spent?